Paterson man is sentenced to 15 years for killing of jail cellmate

PATERSON — A Passaic County Jail inmate who strangled and brutally beat his cellmate to death three years ago has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Samuel Ramos will have to serve 85 percent — or nearly 13 years — of the sentence imposed Friday before becoming eligible for parole.

The 22-year-old Paterson resident had pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, burglary and threatening to kill in the July 2007 death of 50-year-old Ramon Aponte.

Prosecutors say Ramos and Aponte were being housed in a special detention unit at the jail. A sheriff's officer making rounds heard a commotion inside their cell and found Aponte unresponsive and bleeding with severe head trauma.

Aponte was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, where he died a short time later. He had been jailed for violating parole, while Ramos was jailed for carjacking.